


a week beside you

by stonerkun420



Series: Single-Dad! Kun’s Struggles [2]
Category: NCT (Band)
Genre: How Do I Tag, M/M, Mentioned Nakamoto Yuta, Mother Hen Qian Kun, Seo Youngho | Johnny is Whipped, Seo Youngho | Johnny is a Sweetheart, This Is STUPID
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-01-13
Updated: 2019-01-13
Packaged: 2019-09-16 03:58:32
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,742
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16946574
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/stonerkun420/pseuds/stonerkun420
Summary: kun's week starts with a dead fish, a backyard funeral, and a whole lot youngho.





	a week beside you

**Author's Note:**

> okay, let’s get some things straight. i said in the previous part of this series that there would be more parts or maybe even chapters—which HAPPENED but didnt even make it through drafting.
> 
> i’ve had a tough time with this and its been so frustrating and time consuming, so it’s taken far longer than any of us expected for this to even be published, let me explain why.
> 
> 1) i wrote multiple drafts of different yet similar ‘stories’ that would have been the second part to this series, but none of them sat quite right with me and are currently laying dead in the notes of my phone (oops?)
> 
> 2) i wrote an e n t i r e draft that i was so so happy with yesterday and was about to upload it. obviously, that didn’t work out, seeing as we are left with this mess today. i left for a break from writing for about ten minutes, when i came back, the draft had disappeared without a trace.
> 
> 3) my phone : broke the screen is smashed as hell and i am very annoyed thankyou
> 
> im so frustrated and impatient that i felt i should clear everything and start from scratch, so here. have this mess! hope you enjoy :’))))

“What’s he doing?” Chenle whispers to Renjun, who just glares at his younger brother and presses a finger to his lips, wordlessly telling him to quiet down.

The two boys peer over the back of the sofa at their dad, who is pacing the room back and forth with his phone in his hand, which he keeps looking down at impatiently.

“He’s waiting for Mr Seo to call him, after yesterday they both agreed to have a phone call this afternoon. Dad’s just impatient because it’s past five-thirty. He even drove home early for this.” Renjun whispers, leaning his head closer to Chenle without taking his eyes off of his father.

Renjun pulls out his phone and opens his texts with Kun, smiling mischievously . “Watch this,” He grins and sends a quick text to his father.

Kun immediately stops pacing and jumps when he hears his phone ring with a message, frowning when he sees it isn’t from Youngho, but instead from Renjun. He whips around with squinted eyes to face Renjun, and points to him with an accusing finger.

 

“Kid, don’t make me take away your phone. This is very important business!” Kun whines, and Renjun just smiles smugly, throwing himself over the back of the sofa to sit on it properly.

“You have a crush on my science teacher, that’s so gross.” Renjun jokes, and Kun just rolls his eyes, shaking his head as he takes a seat next to his son.

“I don’t have a crush on him, Renjun. I’ve only met the man once, and who’s fault was that?” Kun teases back, and Renjun scrambles for words. “I said I was sorry, Dad!”

“I know, I’m just joshin’”

“Who even says that anymore?” Renjun huffs, and Kun nudges his son with an elbow. “Anyway! What are you guys gonna talk about on your call?” Renjun grins, wiggling his eyebrows.

Kun begins to respond, but Chenle decides to follow in his big brother’s footsteps and launch himself over the back of the sofa, landing right on top of Renjun. The older of the two wheezes like he’s just been punched. Kun chuckles quietly, hoisting Chenle up and onto his lap, saying something about karma.

“I’ll get you back for that,” Renjun groans, glaring at his dad. Kun just shrugs, still smiling ever so sweetly. “I didn’t do anything, that was all your brother. Leave me out of this” The boy and his father continue their stare-off for another moment until Kun’s phone rings, making everyone jump when he scrambles to grab it and pick up the call.

 

 

“Hi! Youngho—hey, what’s up?” Kun cringes at himself, watching out of the corner of his eye when Renjun recoils in mock disgust, fake gagging before he runs off to God knows where, dragging his younger brother along with him.

“ _H_ _ey_ , _K_ un. _I'_ _m_ _good_ — _sorry_ _I'_ _m_ _late to_ _call_ , _I had_ _a_ _few_ _extra_ _papers_ _to_ _grade_ _that_ _I_ _completely_ _forgot_ _about_ _until_ _now_.” Youngho apologises, and Kun smiles, trying not to coo at the older man’s sincere apology.

“That’s fine, if you’re still busy we can talk another time,” Kun supplies, grinning when he hears Youngho chuckle on the other line. “..you know I don’t mind” He adds on softly.

“ _N_ _o_ , _no_ , _don’t_ _worry!_   _I'_ _m_   _leaving_ _the_ _building_ _now_ — _getting_ _into_ _my_ _sick_ _sports_ _car_.” Kun laughs behind a hand and slumps into the sofa comfortably.

“A sick sports car, huh?”

 “ _O_ _h, you bet! Goes along with my cool-as-hell motorbike.”_ Youngho brags, and Kun rolls his eyes. “I know you don’t own a motorbike, you’re too tall for that kind of balance.” Kun pipes up. 

 _"Perhaps! Maybe I’ll get one just to spite you, doesn’t that sound fun?”_   Youngho drawls, and Kun stifles a laugh, coughing behind his fist.

Kun coos mockingly, placing a hand to his chest even though no one can even see him. “Aw, you’d do that for me? I’m touched, really.” Kun laughs, and Youngho hums in affirmation.

“ _Of course I would, but we should talk about that another time, hm? What’s been botherin’ you lately?_ ” The way Youngho’s tone changed from joking to concerned threw Kun for a loop, and the younger man stumbled around his words for a second before he sighs.

 

“Oh, I don’t know—like, work? The kids too, not _them_ , I mean! Just this whole thing with the bullying really got me stressed..” Kun trails off, picking at a stray thread of his sweater. “It’s silly, right?" he adds when Youngho doesn't say anything for a moment.

“ _O_ _f course not! It’s a stressful situation, Kun. No one wants to hear that their kid is being subjected to bullying, your stress is completely valid_.” Youngho speaks softly, and Kun bites the inside of his cheek contemplatively. “ _Y_ ou _know none of this is your fault, right?_ ” Youngho adds on quietly, and Kun just sighs dejectedly.

“I mean— guess somewhere deep inside my big head I know it isn’t really my fault at all, but I can’t help but feel like it is. Like, maybe if I had noticed something was going on before—or if I wasn’t so occupied with work, we could’ve figured things out before now..” Kun takes a deep breath, apologising softly for his rambling. Youngho stays silent for a moment, and Kun takes that opportunity to continue.“I feel like...maybe I haven’t been here for them as much as I should be. I hate having to leave Renjun in charge when I have to go to the office—I don’t know. It sucks.” Kun scoffs, chuckling bitterly to himself.

 _“Kun, listen—you’re a single parent, none of this is gonna be easy. You have to work to provide for yourself and the boys, you need to get up everyday and take them to school early every morning before you go and work in an office for hours before you can come home,”_ Youngho clears his throat before continuing. _“You’re doing so well, from what I've heard. Don’t put yourself down so much, you’re such a good parent to your kids, and you work so hard. You shouldn’t undermine yourself so much, okay?”_

It’s quiet for a moment until Kun sniffles, and it’s only then does he realise he’s crying. “Thankyou, Youngho. I’ll try harder.”

 _"It’s no problem, really—wait. Are..are you crying?”_ Youngho asks, and Kun clears his throat, sitting up properly.

“No.” Kun replies bluntly, holding back all of his tears. Youngho laughs into the receiver and Kun rolls his eyes. “Okay, maybe I cried a little bit. I’m sensitive!” Kun argues with a huge grin slapped across his face. _“Aw, poor baby,”_ Youngho teases, and Kun just scoffs. _“You’ve had a rough couple of days, huh? How was work, you big crybaby?”_

“I’m not a crybaby,” Kun mumbles, ignoring Youngho’s loud burst of laughter right into the phone “Work was fine. Boring, though. You’d think working for one of the biggest companies would at least be a little entertaining, all I do is pick up the phone and watch Yuta flirt with that guy from sales. Such a headache, really.” Kun whines, slumping back down into the sofa dramatically. _“Aw man, you should try being a science teacher! Watching the kids freak out over a little explosion is like, the best part of my day!” Y_ oungho tells Kun in excitement, and the younger just smiles fondly.

"That does sound like fun. Maybe if I'm lucky I can use my useless math skills to teach kids algebra, how fun would that be?” Kun jokes, and takes pride in the way he makes Youngho laugh oh so loudly on the other end of the call. _“I'm sure they’d love you, algebra or not.”_

“We’ll see about that, I suppose—oh, hang on. Crying child incoming, I’ll be just a moment.” Kun interrupts when a crying Chenle comes creeping into the room.

The boy approaches his dad with tears streaming down his face, and he looks about two seconds away from sobbing loudly. "Hey, what’s up? Come here,” Kun frowns, gathering Chenle into his arms, rocking him back and forth gently. “You wanna tell me what’s wrong?”

Chenle mumbles something unintelligible, and Kun frowns, asking him to repeat what he said.

“Robby Snail is dead—and I killed him!” Chenle wails, absolutely throwing himself back onto Kun in a snotty, tear-filled embrace. “Oh dear.”

 

Ah, yes. Robby Snail, Chenle’s pet fish that has outlasted every single one of Kun’s expectations (including the fish breed’s supposed life expectancies, nice work Robby). Kun sighs and rubs his son's back comfortingly, giving him a kiss on the top of his head. “Let me guess, kid. You wanna have a funeral for him?” Kun asks after a moment, and hears Youngho snort from his phone, having forgotten that the call was still going.

 

“Yeah,” Chenle sniffles, rubbing his eyes. “Is that Mr Seo on the phone?” The boy asks shyly, giving Kun a curious, teary look. Kun nods. “Yeah, kid. You wanna say hi?” Chenle shakes his head but looks down at the phone contemplatively before he speaks.

“Can we invite him to the funeral, please?”

 

 

 

-

 

 

 

That’s how Kun finds himself standing in his backyard next to Youngho, neither of them saying a word while Chenle places his dead fish inside a little tissue box that Renjun so helpfully decorated out of pity. (it's just a crayon drawing of a snail with a smiley face.)

“Would anyone like to say some kind words before we bid Horatio a goodbye?” Chenle sniffles, and everyone gives him a confused look.

“Isn’t his name Robby Snail?” Kun asks, and Chenle turns to his father with a blank stare.

“I know what I said, thankyou.” Chenle drawls, and Kun stares at him with a look of disbelief.

“Oh my god—okay, just—just say your words. I don’t want your dinner to burn.” Kun sighs, glaring at Youngho when the taller man snickers behind his hand. “You, be quiet. This is a heartbreaking ceremony.”

Youngho nods in mock seriousness, turning back to the funeral with a dramatically sullen look on his face. Kun chuckles and turns, watching Chenle pay his respects.

 

“Horatio was a good fish. He always came to the edge of the tank for food whenever I got too close, but I like to imagine it wasn’t just the temptation of food, but also the fact that he may have loved me. I loved _him_ more than anything in this world, and no one can ever compare to him. Love you, Horatio. Swim far.” Chenle whispers, and Kun admits that he feels a little bad for his son.

“That was beautiful, Chenle. I’m sure he’ll be happy wherever he goes.” Youngho pipes up, smiling down at Chenle who is craning his neck to even look at the tall man.

 

 

“Now, our final goodbyes. See you later, fish.” Renjun jumps in, flicking on a lighter that came out of nowhere, and chucking it in the box. Havoc begins to ensue.

 

 

“ _Renjun_ —why do you have that? Oh my god—“ Kun panics when the box quite literally bursts into flames, not expecting it to have flared up like that.

Chenle is screaming out for his Horatio, Renjun hurls the now thankfully unlit lighter over the fence, and Kun is freaking out, to say the least. All while Youngho just watches with his hands in his pockets.

Eventually the fire is put out, and an angry Chenle is refusing to speak to his older brother. Kun has his head in his hands while Youngho tries to console the younger of the two boys.

 

 

-

 

 

“What a night, huh? Maybe I should stay for dinner.” Youngho teases when he walks over to Kun, leaning down in front of him to meet his eyes. Kun snorts.

“I’m not subjecting you to any more of this hell. You’re welcome to stay if you really want to, though.” Kun mumbles sheepishly, and Youngho just grins.

"It’s all in good fun, Kun! I think your family is great, you have a nice dynamic here.” Kun flushes in embarrassment, looking sheepishly over at his sons.

“I suppose so—I don’t usually let my kids set things on fire though, I don’t know what got into him.” Kun mumbles while he & Youngho watch Renjun apologise over and over again to his younger brother, who is just sitting there with his arms crossed.

Renjun hears this and looks over, surprising his father & teacher when he blinks and speaks. “Mr Seo was the one who was teaching us about fire behaviour last week. I wanted to test it out.” Renjun grins, and Kun turns to face Youngho.

“Interesting.” Kun drawls, his face ever so blank. Youngho grins sheepishly, taking a step back.

“I don’t set up the curriculum! Blame the government, it isn’t my fault!” Youngho whines, and Kun just laughs at him, shaking his head. “I’ll believe you this once, but if you encourage my son to set more things on fire.. you’re both in huge trouble. Got it?”

 

“Got it!” Youngho & Renjun chime in together, to which Kun just smiles and leaves them alone to go and speak to Chenle, giving Youngho a look of warning.

 

Keeping his eye on the other two for a moment before turning to Chenle, Kun sighs and sits beside his son, giving him hug. “Why are you upset, kid? Did Renjun really make you this sad by doing that?” Chenle just nods in response, his arms crossed over one another while he pouts. Kun sighs and turns to Youngho, who just shrugs his shoulders, eyebrows furrowed.

Eventually, Kun has enough of the silence. The younger man beckons Youngho over with a tilt of his head. "Alright, Chenle. Talk to Mr Seo for a while, just so I can check on dinner, hm? Then we can all eat together, if Mr Seo would like to stay?" Kun looks up from Chenle to look at Youngho with a silent question. Youngho nods, smiling at Chenle and taking the boy from Kun's lap.

Kun ruffles his son's hair and gives Youngho a soft smile, walking away back into the kitchen. Renjun is sitting there on the kitchen counter with his phone in hand, eyebrows furrowed in concentration, giving his father a quick glance of acknowledgement. "Renjun."

"Hm?" Is the only response Kun gets from his son. which makes him roll his eyes, leaning against the cupboard with his arms crossed. "Renjun."

"I'm listening, dad. What's up?" Renjun huffs, finally putting his phone down and looking at his dad, startling when he sees the disappointed look on his face.

"Oh no," the boy squeaks, and Kun just chuckles, " ‘Oh no’ is right. Do you know what you did wrong today?"

It's quiet for a moment, and Kun watches his son's eyes shift around in contemplation. "..yes?"

"That sounds like you're trying to convince _yourself_ instead of me. Am I right?" Kun drawls, and Renjun just nods meekly. "Do you want me to explain what you did, and why you're in trouble? Or would you rather I do that when Mr Seo leaves after dinner?"

It's quiet again for a bit while Renjun thinks, but the silence is broken when Chenle's laugh comes loudly from the living room. "We'll talk after dinner. Go get yourself ready, please." Kun requests, and his son just nods again, jumping off the counter and scampering away to his room. 

Kun sighs and begins to finish the rest of dinner, jumping when Youngho appears from behind him, placing his large hands on Kun's shoulders. "Didn't mean to scare you," Youngho laughs when Kun spins around to glare at him, pushing the taller man gently. "You okay?" The elder continues, leaning over Kun's shoulder to watch what he's doing.

"Hm, yeah. I can't believe Chenle planned a funeral on his own, and then Renjun ruined it.." Kun trails off, slumping a bit when he sighs, giving Youngho a withering look. "I'm gonna have to ground him, aren't I?" The younger of the two turns and faces Youngho, leaning back against the counter.

Youngho presses his lips together, giving Kun a worried look. "Well, you don't _have_ to. He's already suspended, maybe just take his phone away for a few days, Give him a few chores?" The taller suggests, and Kun just tips his head back, groaning.

"Why can't you just be his dad? You're so much better prepared for this than I am." Kun whines, missing the way Youngho laughs nervously. "No way, I'd be the one setting dead fish on fire instead of them," Youngho jokes, and Kun just laughs, rolling his eyes teasingly. "Come on, I think you're done here. Let me set the table?"

Kun grins at Youngho, giving his hair a good ruffle before turning back around to the food. "Dishes are in the bottom cupboard under the stovetop."

 

 

 -

 

Dinner was a mess, but what could you expect after the day's events? Chenle ignored Renjun the whole time, supplying the table with quips like 'Dad, please tell Renjun that no, I would not like the salt'. Alongside Chenle's behaviour, Renjun stayed on his phone the entire time, glaring at Kun whenever he tried to tell his son to have some manners. 

"Daddy needs a drink," Kun mumbles at some point after Renjun makes a show of pushing his plate away to text someone rapidly, making his dad stand up and move into the kitchen for a moment, leaving Youngho to sit there awkwardly until Kun comes back quickly with wine glasses and a full bottle of red wine, holding them out in suggestion. "Want some?"

"God, please." Is Youngho's desperate response, and Kun just smiles apologetically before excusing his sons (who are both definitely done) from the table.

 

 

 -

 

 

That's how Kun finds himself on the sofa next to Youngho, with warm cheeks and tired smiles, the two men a little bit wine drunk.

"Today was a mess, Youngho." Kun whines. Youngho pouts, cooing at Kun teasingly when the younger man rests his head on Youngho's shoulder.

"It wasn't _that_ bad, come on." Youngho tries, frowning when Kun sits up to give Youngho the stink-eye. 

"My son set my other son's fish on fire," He drawls, ignoring Youngho's wince in order to continue. "With a lighter that I _know_ we didn't own."

"Okay, I guess that's an issue-" 

"Of course it's an issue," Kun whines again, slumping down with another sip of his wine. "Why would he even need that lighter? What if he's doing drugs? That would explain why he won't let me meet his friends!" He pouts, looking back up at Youngho, who's just sitting there with an amused smile.

"Maybe you're just embarrassing?" "Not helping, Youngho."

“Sorry, my bad.” Youngho apologises, patting Kun’s head sympathetically. “They’re boys, Kun. They’re growing up, too. They’ll be rowdy, and maybe a little mean to eachother sometimes. One day you’ll never see Renjun except for when he leaves his room to go to the bathroom, and he’ll refuse to talk to you because he’s rebelling. It happens, today was just a little messy, but nothing we can’t fix. Yeah?”

Kun looks up at Youngho, meeting his eyes and pretending like his own sight isn’t unfocused and blurry. “Are you sure?” Youngho feels his heart tense up at the tone of Kun’s voice. He sounds so desperate just for a little bit of guidance.

”I’m positive. Plus, you know I’m only a phone call away if you need anything. I love the boys, it’s a pleasure to know them outside of school grounds as well.” Youngho grins, and Kun just keeps staring. 

“Yeah? And what about me?” Kun doesn’t know where that came from, and he finds himself sitting up in shock. “Sorry—“

”I think you’re great, Kun. Even if we met on some unfortunate circumstances, I’m glad we know eachother more personally now. You’re wonderful, one of the nicest guys I know.” The elder smiles, placing his hand on top of Kun’s own, watching the way the younger flushes pink.

”Oh! Thankyou, Youngho. The same goes for you too,” Kun stumbles around his words, a small smile on his face. 

 

It’s quiet for a moment, and Kun is admiring the way Youngho keeps eye contact despite his own eyes being a little too unfocused for his liking. Kun breaks eye contact for a minute, looking down at Youngho’s lips. They’re pretty, he decides, and realises he’s been staring for a bit too long.

Kun snaps out of his daze and clears his throat, moving to stand up. “It’s getting late. I wouldn’t want you driving home at any later hour, who knows who’ll be on the streets.” Kun speaks quickly, wobbling when he gets to his feet.

He misses the way Youngho frowns at the sudden break of the moment, and instead turns to collecy their empty wine glasses. “Give me a moment, I’ll see you to the door.” Kun presses his lips into a thin line before scurrying away.

 

In the kitchen, Kun places the glasses in the sink and stands there for a moment, heart pounding in his chest. He shakes his head and moves back out to meet Youngho, walking with the taller man to the door.

”I hope you had an okay time here, despite everything. You’re welcome over whenever, I’m sure the boys would love to see you again some time.” Kun speaks softly, resisting the urge to kick Youngho out so he can cry to himself for a moment.

”I had fun, Kun. Don’t worry,” Youngho smiles and steps out of the doorway, standing on the porch and turning to Kun once more. He opens his mouth to say something, but is clipped short when Kun smiles politely. “Have a good night. I’ll see you later.” He whispers before walking away.

Kun smiles and nods, waiting until Youngho drives away to shut his door.

He stands there for a moment, hand still on the doorknob. It’s eerily quiet.

 

 

”Nice one, dad.” Comes Renjun’s voice from behind him. Kun jumps in fright, turning to face his son with tired eyes.

”Go to bed, ‘Jun.” Kun sighs, shutting his eyes for a minute, waiting for Renjun to go back to his room.

”Right, sorry. Goodnight.” The boy squeaks and scurries away, leaving Kun alone in the doorway. 

 

Kun’s got a lot of thinking to do.

 

 

 

 

**Author's Note:**

> kun is a panicked gay dad huh ! guess we can’t have everything though
> 
> i hope you all enjoyed !! despite all the frustration and struggle that came out of this part, im proud of myself for getting it out! kudos and comments are much appreciated! i am still very sorry that this took so long to be uploaded i suck
> 
> twt : blushykuns  
> ig : sunndz


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